The Time of Change
by DominaNocte
Summary: Naruto has always had a silent guardian, now after killing Madara and looking at the desolate place left behind when everyone is dead this mysterious person offers Naruto the chans to change it all. Time travel- fic. Revievs make me post faster!
1. From the ashes

The time of change – from the ashes…

Naruto was panting as his breath caught, he was running from a mob of people trying to catch and hurt him. Why? It was the tenth of October and apparently that was all the reason needed. Feeling himself tire Naruto took a chance. Waning of from the main road Naruto ran for one of the smaller alleys, either no one would notice he had disappeared – he had rounded a corner recently after all – or his pursuers would notice and catch him in the alley, he knew it ended in an impasse. If however, no one noticed, maybe he could have a chance of surviving the night.

Suddenly an arm wrapped around his waist and a hand kept his scream from ringing out in the night, as he was pulled into a steadfast hold. His back hitting something hard, frantically Naruto began fighting the arms holding him inn place thinking it was one of the villagers who had somehow anticipated the idée of taking cover in an alley.

"Quiet, little one, or they will find us." The words were hissed into his ear by a deep voice, not loud enough for anyone but Naruto to hear. Stiffing, as Naruto suddenly remembered the villagers often got more agitated if he didn't do as they told him, Naruto closed his eyes wanting nothing more than getting back to the safety of his apartment. Then the four year old realized there was nothing left of the apartment, it had gone up in flames many hours ago. That was, Naruto recalled, what had driven him out of it in the first place. The scorching heat of alcohol induced flames.

Soon the sound of feet running through the streets could be heard and Naruto couldn't help the tightening of his muscles as he waited for the blows to begin raining. When that didn't happen Naruto carefully opened his eyes and sagged in relief. He hadn't been found. Looking around carefully he took a few steps before pausing. A dark cloak rested on his small frame, turning Naruto looked for the person he knew was the reason for his safe escape. The cloak had kept him, his hair and bright clothing, from being seen but there was no sign of the person who had worn it. Carefully, vary of everything, and everyone, he encountered during this day of the year, Naruto shifted through the pockets of the cloak.

His eyes widened as he discovered food. Dried fruits, nuts and some candy in one pocket, a water bottle and carefully wrapped Onigiri in another along with some dried meat. Naruto looked around vide eyed. No one gave him food, not even Sandaime-jiji, but then again no one ever helped him escape from the mobs either.

Looking around once more Naruto gathered the cloak around himself and began cautiously making his way out of the alley. Knowing he would be much safer in the outskirts of Konoha Naruto slowly made his way towards the walls making sure to stay in smaller alleys and backstreets as much as possible.

Half an hour later Naruto had hid in one of the many trees positioned along the walls, knowing that while it was closer to the Shinobi, which he tended to avoid as they usually were a greater threat than the civilians, Naruto knew that on this date there usually were a larger possibility of being left alone.

Sniffing the Onigiri cautiously, Naruto couldn't help but be thankful for his god sense of smell. As some, if not most, of the people who sold him food tried to poison him, Naruto knew most poisons by smell, or when that wasn't enough, taste.

Both the water and the Onigiri smelled fine thought and Naruto slowly took a small bite. Flavor exploded in his mouth and Naruto could feel tears gathering in his eyes, surely this food hadn't been made with him in mind, but the four year old orphan couldn't help but hope that was the case. Falling asleep that night came easier than most nights, covered in the dark cloak and breathing in the scent of ancient parchment, ink, feathers and cinnamon.

From that day on whenever Naruto found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place, on his birthday only thought, the same man always seemed to help him out. Naruto hadn't always seen the man, but he had memorized the scent that shrouded the man like a cloak; ancient parchment, ink, feathers and cinnamon. Sometimes the boy found food in the pockets of the cloak, sometimes he found a present as well. Once, he had found a small book on how to cook. Another time, when he was older, Naruto had found a small scroll with an in depth description on a taijutsu style, only a few katas simple and easy, but enough for him to avoid getting pummeled to the ground during spars at the academy. The content of the presents had varied over the years, and, though it always tasted as good as the first time, the food had as well.

When Naruto had beaten Mizuki and saved Iruka-sensei, the thing making Naruto gather his courage had not in fact been Iruka-sensei's speech, but the fact that for a moment Naruto believed he had scented a scrap of The Man's scent, and it was enough to bring order to Naruto's mind. Later the boy would dismiss the scent as an image of his imagination, a sliver of memory in times of need, and that had, coped with the fact any residue of the scent on the jumpsuit he had worn was gone, convinced Naruto The Man had not in fact been there.

The time after that there had been a meeting between the two was on the wave mission, after Zabuza and Haku had died and Naruto woke from his exhaustion the day after the room had been flooded with The Man's scent and there had been a gentle hand carding through his hair. The man had spoken softly to Naruto, told him not to regret their deaths, but honor them and live on with the memory of the two in their full glory and power. He had told Naruto 'do not pity the dead, pity the living' and Naruto had, as with everything else The Man said, taken the words to heart. All too soon The Man had left and Kakashi-sensei had entered the room, looking confused and… worried (?), why Kakashi-sensei would be worried he had no clue, The Man was no threat after all.

On the trip with Jiraiya Naruto had been bestowed with presents as well. The first time, when Naruto had been to chocked to do anything but stare at the neatly wrapped present sitting innocently at his bed, Jiraiya had picked up the present and began examination it. That had broken Naruto out of his stupor and almost sent him into a Kyuubi induced rage. Jiraiya had obviously noticed this, by chakra leakage if nothing else, and quickly finished examining the packed before he more or less threw the present at Naruto. Inside there had innocently laid one of the Yondaime's special kunai and a small innocent scroll containing a detailed description of the seal used to create it. Jiraiya had lost the ability to speak for several moments, staring at the present, while Naruto had simply sat on the floor, breathing in deeply and enjoying the scent of The Man.

Then he had gingerly placed the package on the ground before reaching into a pocket, withdrawing a scroll from which Naruto had unsealed a small handwritten book on cooking. The kanji was small and even, and thought the book was worn and battered it was well taken care of. It didn't take more than a glace to realize the book and the scroll was written by the same person.

Jiraiya, of course, was unable to let it go and had prodded Naruto about the sender of the gifts. Naruto thought had refused to tell the man anything, even after the man had threatened to drop Naruto as an apprentice. Jiraiya had given up after a while, but kept teasing Naruto about his "secret admirer" which Naruto stoically ignored.

More and more The Man with the ancient scent had appeared in Naruto's life, only small things, a gift here, a note or clue there, a hand carding through his hair when waking up after a tough mission disappearing as Naruto opened his eyes. Still Naruto treasured every moment, and he never told anyone about The Man. So came the times of war, village after village burned to the ground, ninja after ninja dying one afterwards like flies, while the ones who survived got just a little bit stronger and a little more scarred and battered.

When finally it was over Naruto was the only one to be alive, his enemy was dead, but so was his friends and village. _'A hollow victory, indeed.' _Then there was a sound of feet, trading lightly on the soil of the battleground. _'Let them come.' _Naruto thought_ 'I have nothing more left to lose.' _The feet stopped directly behind him and Naruto, not doing anything, was drawn into an embrace. His shoulders were broader this time as they collided with hard abs, his body more muscled and taller; still he couldn't help feel like a child in a fathers embrace at the moment. Once more the soft, deep voice of The Man with a scent of ancient scrolls, ink, feather and cinnamon descended on his nose and he felt strangely at ease.

"Child." The man said. "I know you are feeling hopeless, and I know the sadness of your heart. I have come now that the prophecy is completed. Thought I wish I could have intervened earlier, I could not." Naruto relaxed into the arms of The Man, someone whose face he had never seen, but still someone he trusted without thought. Tears trailed his cheeks as he soaked up the others presence, letting it calm him in a way nothing else had ever been able to.

"What good is it that I alone survived?" the whispered question was all Naruto could think of asking, knowing that even if no one really could have an answer the most probable person to have it would be the man in whose arms Naruto now rested. "Not even Kurama, a being of energy, and with the p-power to destroy the world is left, w-what g-good would me s-surviving do?" Naruto had closed his eyes as his frame was wrecked by his sobs which were getting progressively louder.

"Hush now… it'll be ok, child, I'll help you, I promise." Slowly Naruto calmed down as The Man gently rocked the boy. Carding a hand through soft blond strands of hair The Man waited for Naruto to calm down. "Child, if you want to change what happened I can help you." Naruto was quiet for a long while.

"How?" The Man however gently grabbed Naruto's chin and turned the boy towards himself.

"I'll send you back through time." A small, but honest smile was lighting up The Man's face. "First thought; I want to teach you some things. Oh, and call me Hari." Naruto nodded as he looked at his saving grace for the first time. The Man had soft, feathered and ruffled waist long raven hair. A kind face, a few lines in his forehead marking The Man as someone who hadn't lived a sheltered or peaceful life. Yet there was something about the man that screamed to Naruto about safety and peace. "Sleep child, tomorrow everything will be different." Nodding; tiered from crying and the emotional stress, Naruto closed his eyes. Faintly he heard soft chuckles and felt a gentle kiss at his brow. For the first time in what felt like ages Naruto slept peacefully.

An. Soooo… my first good Naruto-verse story… yeah… I can work with this. Anyway; tell me what you like/ dislike and I will post the next chapter the day (or as soon as I see) the first review. See Ya'!

DominaNocte

An#2. Some people told me I had misspelled cook and written cock instead, hopefully I have corrected that now. If not: TELL ME! It is really appreciated! ^.^

Have a good read!


	2. and into the fire

Chapter 1 …and into the fire.

There were the sounds of multiple feet – three - walking towards his cell. Yes, Namikaze Minato, Jōnin of Konohagakure no Sato, was currently locked into a cell in Iwa territory like some common Chunin who just had gotten their first taste of battle. With a frustrated sound Minato recalled what had happened.

_He was running through the forest, aiming for the borders splitting Iwa and Konoha from each other. Suddenly there was a sound in the greenery to his right, tiered and stressed from his mission Minato dismissed the sound. This would prove to be a mistake as not five seconds later a rain of kunai came his way. Dodging was harder now than when he was well rested, however Minato did so without too big problems. No, the problem was what came then. From his left and from above came shuriken and more kunai. Dodging these Minato missed the senbon coming from behind; one striking his arm and pierced the muscle while another narrowly missed his shoulder. Twisting his body Minato sent four kunai of his own in response, the usual type – not his Hiraishin ones -, and a harsh curse was his price. _

_Then before Minato had the chance to run he was surrounded. An almost strictly taijutsu battle followed: Minato to low on chakra to use ninjutsu and the attacking Shinobi not wanting to risk injuring their friends in such close quarters. _

_In the end it was down to a very injured Minato and five unknown Shinobi, none of them, Minato noted smugly, without wounds and three dead. His small victory was short lived however, as the blunt end of a kunai collided with the back of his head. _

Waking up had not been a fun experience; Minato's head had ben throbbing like mad and his hair was crusted with dried blood. Thought Minato was surprised he had awoken at all, not that it was necessarily a good thing. He knew way too many secrets and had too much knowledge to be let go without at least some torture.

The footsteps were closer now and Minato had to let the toughs go to concentrate on his breathing, calming it, and then Minato locked eyes with his captors. Surprised he noted none of them wore a Hitai-ate. So maybe he wasn't dealing with ninjas wanting to capture him for his actions during the war which had just ended. That would be something at least.

This could be good or bad; good, because they possibly wouldn't torture him or know how to extract information (as he was a ninja) and take the caution necessary for a Jōnin prisoner. Or it could be bad, as they were probably going to sell him to Iwa (or any of the other countries for that sake) and he probably would bring in a pretty sum. The only positive thing was that they wouldn't risk killing him now that they thought he was at their mercy which allowed him more time to plan an escape.

Two of the three men each took one of his arms each and began dragging him out of the cell. Not a word was uttered during the trip through a rather boring set of corridors. Finally after entering a room, not to different from the ones they had passed, the men fettered his arms behind his back with a pair of iron shackles and his legs to the floor. Then the leader of the three spoke.

"So this is the Konoha no Kiroii Senko, more of a pretty face than I had expected. Don't you agree boys?" The other two Shinobi sniggered in their agreement as they nodded from behind Minato, he could tell by the shift of air. The three men were all taller than Minato, but so were many other people, still they had bulk to go with the length and were all possibly stronger, in raw strength if not in technical, than Minato. Not that that always was an advantage, as Minato had proved, to capture him three of the eight attacking him had gone down and the other had been injured before they had managed to bring him down. What good was strength if you were too slow to catch your opponent? Suddenly the man in front of Minato crouched down low and gripped Minato's face.

"A shame if we didn't take care of you properly before we hand you over to Iwa." Appalled Minato tried to get out of the grip those dirty hands had on his face, but no such luck.

"Ah, a feisty one. Don't worry, we will take good care of you, little Namikaze-chan." The smile on the man's face was not reassuring in the least. However as a Shinobi Minato had been taught how to hide his emotions and simply stared back blank faced at the man. Not many minutes later the men had ripped every thread of clothing from his body, shivering slightly in the cold room; Minato couldn't help but to recoil slightly when the men began touching him greedily and rubbing those dirty hands along Minato's body.

For ten long minutes the man continued doing so and Minato could feel their growing lust against his body. Then the leader of the group apparently had enough and pulled Minato's and his own pants down. Minato felt sick as the man pressed against him and whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry Namikaze-chan, you'll like it." Minato knowing he could do nothing to stop the man wrenched his eyes closed and waited for the horrible pain he knew awaited him.

However the pain never came. Something else, three dull thuds, came instead. Opening his eyes Minato couldn't help staring at the scene around him. His captors lay on the floor, one perfectly placed kunai shoved in each of their necks, dislocating their spines from the base of their skulls and killing them instantly, little blood left the wounds and Minato guessed that from the angle of the blades they hadn't touched any major arteries.

The soft sound of light footsteps made Minato turn as much as he could towards the one who had killed the men. Once again Minato was shocked for it was a young boy, who could be no more than eleven, that was walking towards the men and removed the kunai from their place in the oddly neat bodies and wiped the excess blood on the, now, dead bodies' clothes.

However instead of just removing the kunai, the young boy began looking through their pockets. In no time the boy had fished out pouches of what looked like money, not that Minato could tell that well from his position.

The boy then made a small noise of success as he fished out a set of keys from one of the dead men's pockets. Moving towards Minato the boy swiftly unlocked his bounds and moved on to inspecting the rest of the room. Minato had slowly, warily stood up, trying to make an estimation of how much chakra he had and how long he had been gone from Konoha by now and to not trigger the boy's reactions. Obviously the boy had training and wasn't averse to killing if he had to.

Technically he knew it couldn't be more than three days he had been captured, but it felt like so much longer. The only reason he even knew it was three days was from his – now dead – captors jeers of how Konoha had not managed to find him. Caching movement in the corner of his eye Minato spun around and instinctively caught the object tossed towards him. The object was light and rough in his hand; it was… a pair of trousers?

Sniggers reached his ears, and Minato looked up to see the boy trying to kill his laughter. Belatedly Minato remembered he was naked, quickly he donned the pants as he felt his face heat. Turning back Minato studied the child, looking at the boy now he seemed younger than before, maybe ten at the most.

The boy had fiery red hair, a shade Minato only had seen on Kushina before, and was clad in dark pants and a dark green shirt. Oddly enough there were stripes of bright orange on both the pants and the shirt, which really should have looked odder than it did_. 'And probably isn't preferable when hiding._' _Really; which self-respecting ninja wore orange?'_ Then again the boy might not be a ninja if Minato judged from what his actions were and not from the way they were carried out. The boy didn't seem to be looking for anything specific, nor did he seem to have any goals, he simply seemed to take what he needed from the ones he had killed. Yet Minato had never seen the boy and was sure the boy didn't belong to Konoha. The boy had no Hitai-ate telling the world of his loyalties, the boy had yet to speak so it was impossible to judge from a dialect. However the skin that could be seen spoke of hours in the sun, yet not he blistering hot one of Suna, and for the same reason Ame was out – they barley ever saw the sun. then again there was no telling – the boy could have moved and gotten the tan afterwards.

When the boy was done looking through the hideout he turned to Minato once more. After a glance at his Hitai-ate the boy did something which chocked Minato to the core. The boy was using sign language to communicate; the sign language belonging to Konoha's to be exact.

"_Silent. Out. Now. ?."_ The boy signed. Minato simply nodded, wary of the boy he had never laid eyes upon, but who used Konoha ANBU signs as if it was a second nature. However Minato, eager to leave the place behind and unable to fight in his condition decided to simply comply with the boys wishes, after all he could understand the need for silence. They, at least Minato, know if there was at least two more of the enemy "guards" unaccounted for and that there could easily be more than that.

The boy nodded back before handing Minato some kunai and shuriken shocked Minato accepted the weapons silently wondering if it was some sort of trick, but he was unwilling to look a gifted horse in the mouth, or a gifted weapon as was the case. Gliding over to the door Minato followed the boy, but paused to take a last look at the room. His gaze landed upon the unmoving forms of his captors and he shuddered at the almost unnatural bodies. Seeing them like this Minato knew that the only reason he saw the small wounds was because he knew how they had been killed. Anyone not here when the men died would be left guessing until a qualified doctor could take a look at the bodies. Still he didn't let that disturb him for more than a second, he was a ninja and used to death after all, and determinately moved back to the bodies to gather up a spare change of pants and two shirts. He left his own clothes as they were tarnished and dirty with blood and who knew what more. Lastly Minato retrieved a smoke colored cloak, a small canteen of what he thought was water, a short sword and a dagger from two of the men and lastly a small bag he filled with a thin threaded blanket and the clothes.

A tap on his shoulder had Minato spinning to face the possible threat, but instead of an enemy Minato came face to face, or rather chest to face, with the boy. Realizing the boy was waiting for him made Minato both uneasy and more relaxed. Uneasy that the boy had managed to seek up on him and that he didn't know what the boy wanted from him, but relaxed as the boy obviously didn't disapprove of his choice and was a possible ally. The boy had let Minato out of his chains so he while he would keep an eye on him Minato still owed the boy one. Staying in the shadows the two began looking for a way out.

It had been two days since the boy had helped Minato escape from his captors, a certain amount of pain and a possible death. The two hadn't spoken much with Minato being too tired to start conversation and the fact that the two still was within enemy territory. As they set camp for the night however Minato decided to break the silence. They had passed Konoha border a few hours ago, and while Minato still felt uneasy out in the open he felt better knowing they soon would be close enough to see Konoha. This was part of what spurred his decision; he didn't know if the boy would want to come with him into Konoha or if the boy would leave as soon as Minato was safe. Looking at the boy now he could see a strong resemblance to Kushina and from what he knew all Uzumaki had had red hair. With this in thought he cleared his troth gaining the boys attention.

"Well I think I it's time I introduce myself; my name is Namikaze Minato, 22 years old and I'm a Konoha Jōnin ninja specializing in speed and ninjutsu. It's nice to meet you and thank you for saving me." At the last part Minato bowed to the younger male who ha stilled and looked at him indecisively.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I'm nine years old and don't belong to any fraction at the moment. I specialize in chakra control and Fūinjutsu, as for saving you I'm sure anyone would have done the same, but you're welcome." The boy spoke sincerely as he bowed slightly and walked over to the small fire Naruto had taken the chance to ignite. The boy checked on their late dinner. "The meat is done now." the boy sent him a quick look and a small smile, making him more similar to Kushina than ever before. "Unless you like it charred, that is."

Minato couldn't help smiling slightly at this; the boy had grown in him the last days. While they hadn't really had the opportunity to talk over the last few days the boy had showed he cared in other ways, by making stops whenever he noticed Minato got a little too out of breath or seemed to be in pain and by actually staying with Minato even after they had left the enemies territory.

And yes, Minato realized this was the real reason the boy had stopped to pick almost any herbs he found in some places, yet ignoring more uncommon ones at other places was first and foremost to give Minato chance to rest when he needed without making Minato embarrassed by his need for the rest, but also to make sure that if any of Minato's wounds god infected there would be a chance to take care of it. The boy obviously knew a lot about herbs at any point and lastly that it's always good to be prepared. But really Minato was grateful to the boy for even if he didn't wish to admit it he had needed all the rest he had gotten, more if it had been possible. But they couldn't really risk stopping more often than they did thought Minato was sure the boy would be faster without Minato, even if he didn't count the stops.

At the moment Minato had not only one bandage, but one around his head, one on his right arm studying his wrist, one around his upper tight binding a flesh wound and one around his right hand as well. The boy had seemed almost professional when he had taken care of Minato's injuries and while it had felt weird to have someone not even ten years old taking care of him, it felt good that the boy knew what to do.

"No. I do prefer it un-charred." Minato chuckled and took a seat close to the small fire. "So how are you related to the Uzumaki? I didn't know there was anyone outside using the name alive and even in Konoha there is only one individual still bearing the name." Slightly pushy, and an obvious fishing for information and by the slightly amused look the boy knew it to, so Minato was slightly surprised when the boy answered him anyway.

"My mother was an Uzumaki." Here he lifted a stray look of fiery red hair. "Not that I ever knew her, but my… adoptive father knew a bit about the Uzumaki clan and thought me what he knew." He sent Minato a slightly wary look. "Didn't know there was others alive thought." Minato nodded and looked into the fire as he thought of Kushina. He nodded again to himself.

"I see. There is only one as I said, a woman my age going by the name Uzumaki Kushina." He turned his gaze towards Naruto again. "You have a remarkably likeness to her actually." The boy was the one to look into the fire this time, an odd expression on his face. Then it was gone and the boy turned away.

"Good night Minato." The boy had almost reached his sleeping place, a bed made out of grass and leaves, when Minato spoke up again.

"Will you… would you like to stay in Konoha? With me that is?" The boy stopped again and Minato felt the need to convince the child. "I mean; you would have family there and anyone is accepted into the academy, not that you need it if what I saw was any indication, but…" Naruto interrupted his ramble, amusement in his voice.

"I'll think about it. Good night." And with that the boy went to sleep and the silence that descended once more over the camp was only disturbed by the night time birds and the quiet snapping of the fire.

It was the silence of the night that woke Naruto. The sheer wrong of the atmosphere, like an animal, Naruto had in an early age learned how to read it and the Kyuubi had only heightened this ability. Now even just awoken from a state of deep sleep Naruto was as alert as could be. It was then he noticed the shadows, people stalking closer to both him and Minato. A moment passed when he contemplated waking the man, but he decided against it, the man would make sounds when woken and that was something he desperately didn't need right now. Besides the man was injured and could possibly be overlooked if Naruto managed to distract the pursuers, yes, he could do that. No way was he going to let the man who, was / could have been, his father die if he could do anything about it.

Observing the black cloaked people Naruto silently counted them in his head, three, five, six, and another two from the left; which meant there were eight people or two squads. That is a lot of people; then again he didn't know they were ninja or missing-nins. Calling on nature chakra Naruto tried to assess the chakra-levels of the incoming hostiles had, no luck there thought, the most one of them showed was the equivalent of small game like a rabbit and the person showing the least was about the same as a bug. So… that meant insanely high chakra control and damn, but this fight wouldn't be easy. Naruto had after all no weapons to use, only a couple kunai, senbon and shuriken. Then again he had been known for his ability to improvise, still it would be hard if the people appeared to be Konoha ANBU for then he couldn't kill them.

The first two was almost upon Naruto now, he was glad he had turned his hood up before sleeping as it was making it easier for him to hide his open eyes. The bigger of the two figures bowed over him now and Naruto made his move the moment the figure reached out an arm.

A sweeping motion of his leg bringing the person to their knees and a senbon to a pressure point in their neck and the adult was out like a light. Leaving the senbon Naruto knew he wouldn't need to worry about this one for the rest of the battle, there was a slight sleeping-drought on the thin needle sure to last at least three hour.

Jumping to his feet Naruto evaded, and caught, the kunai thrown at him and ducked in behind the second persons guard and delivering a hard punch with the palm of his hand to the solar plexus of the second adult. One more senbon and two people out of the game.

His instincts warning him Naruto threw himself to the side avoiding most of the kunai thrown his way, the others he couldn't avoid with the movement he deflected with the kunai still in his grasp. One of the incoming projectiles however managed to catch in his left arm and he cursed silently, this was really not going to be easy. Still there had been almost no sound yet and he hoped Minato was still asleep, if he was maybe the attackers wouldn't see the man as an enemy, the chance was low but still.

Naruto had decided against drugging the man last night and wondered if they both would pay for it now, with a drug in his system Minato could play the I-have-no-connection-to-this-man-did-you-free-me-? card. Still he had no time for those thoughts now; he needed to concentrate on the surviving, the time travel hadn't been kind to his chakra after all and Naruto had still to really have the chance to replenish his stores and get used to being nine again. It had to be done, after all Hari, The Man had reversed time, but had needed to reverse time for Naruto as well. Still it could be worse, the chakra control exercises Hari had forced on Naruto had worked wonders as had the lessons on Fūinjutsu. There had been lessons on customs from Uzu-gakkure and field medicine as well as other things as well of course, and the moment in time Naruto had been sent back to had been decided by both Hari and Naruto. It had had to be before too many bad things had happened, yet not too far back as Naruto had to be de-aged as well. Had he for example decided to go back to Jiraiya's youth Naruto had been little more than a toddler and he still wouldn't have been capable to save Tsunade's boyfriend Dan or anyone else.

Looking around at his opponents as Naruto straightened from his dive Naruto could see that two of the adults hung back a little, hoping he wasn't making a great mistake Naruto dashed towards these persons. Medic ninja or long distant fighter, and one to cower him or her, was the natural conclusion to come to and it seemed he had luck on his side this time as the person actually turned out to be both medic and week in hand-to-hand. Deflecting most of the blows dealt to him Naruto soon managed to have the medic hit the ground unconscious and the moment after the other assailant's chakra flared for a brief second.

The next moment the person had lunged for Naruto, however the angle was far from ideal and Naruto threw himself to the left forgetting for a moment that he had been hurt in the left arm. Biting down on a wince Naruto flipped right-side up just in time to evade another attack. Catching one of the kunai this time he sent it back to one of the others disrupting the person from completing a sequence of seals more out of luck than by skill. Still he got surprised by the sword coming from his right and got nicked in the shoulder as thanks. Feeling the blood run down his arm Naruto winced, that would hurt tomorrow, if he lived that long that is.

Using Kawarimi no jutsu to buy himself some time Naruto mentally went through his equipment in his head. A couple kunai, most of them subpar as he had looted them from where he could find them. About five senbon coated with the sleeping drought, five shuriken and a few meters of ninja wire, courtesy of Minato. Not the best odds, but he had survived worse. Rigging a quick trap Naruto thanked Kami tonight wasn't a full moon.

Soon his pursuers were upon him and he flung himself backwards into the thicker brushes, using his current size to his advantage. Then the trap went off and managed to hit two of the five ninjas in their legs, and one in an arm. Good that would slow them down. Using a Henge Naruto turned himself into a small rock, large enough to be noticed but too small to be good as ammunition. Waiting until they had separated into groups of two and three Naruto turned back and dealt a swift knee to the back of one's head and a quick senbon to the side of the neck. It was sloppy, but it got the job done.

The second of the pair lashed out with a Ninjatō which Naruto blocked with a kunai. Wincing at the strength behind the push Naruto tried to roll with it but he was moving to slow. Suddenly there was another four shadows surrounding them and Naruto knew that this was it. Then a chakra signature that had grown familiar these last two days arrived before him. The fool was trying to save him! No! He would not allow Minato to die because he couldn't defend himself. Lashing out with his last senbon, he had lost the others in the fall, Naruto made an opening, while downing another opponent, which he proceeded to push Minato out through.

"Run, you fool." Then the world went black.

An. Thanks for the Review Lg and as promised here is the next part, hope you like it. ;D

Please review and tell me what you think, it helps to keep me motivated to continue devoting my free-time to write on the story and tells me what I should have more of. Or if there's something I should stop doing. So tell me what was god, and especially what was BAD.

Cheers!

DominaNocte


	3. Meeting

The time of Change - Meeting

Minato had been startled when the boy, Naruto, pushed him out of the circle of ANBU. He had thought the boy already out of it, and had these men been out to kill them Naruto would probably have saved his hide. For with his speed he was sure he would have been able to outrun the group, even if it would have made him strain himself and his injuries. Straightening Minato looked up at Panther; the leader of the Konoha ANBU squad and held his arms wide to show them he had no intention of attacking.

Panther nodded minutely and Leopard and Tiger stepped forward, pressing a senbon to the base of Minato's neck which Minato allowed them to, knowing with relief that the next time he woke he would be back in Konoha.

Five days had gone past since their arrival in Konoha, delivered by the ANBU to the T & I division unconscious and three days since Minato had been freed of all charges. Naruto had still to wake up.

It was odd, Minato thought, that before the capture the boy had seemed so strong and yet now, when looking at the boy in the too big hospital bed, Minato wanted to spirit the young boy away to hide him from the worlds threats and nurture him back to full strength. The Hokage had decided, since the boy had saved Minato and been dead-set on making sure he escaped, to not put the boy into a holding cell. However there was ANBU stationed to guard the room for no matter how much the boy had helped no one yet knew of his loyalties.

So the boy would be watched and possibly monitored by ANBU, at least until he woke, but they wouldn't restrict him overly much. At the moment the kid had the same access as a civilian, but Minato still thought it harsh. Yes he understood the reasoning behind the treatment, and no; he would not do anything about it, but he knew the kid was a Shinobi and limiting anyone with the level of strength like this would be… well, like locking a wolf into a much too small cage. The fact that the kid could have been anywhere and unhurt if not for helping Minato didn't make it any easier to bear. Also it probably wouldn't help that the boy was knocked out in battle.

Kushina had been a godsend during these days and so had Sakumo- dono, both who had made an honest effort to distract Minato and they had managed to a degree, even if they didn't know who it was he was so worried for. Yet the boy was never far from the front of his mind. So when the message came the sixth day after their nocturnal return to Konoha that the boy had awoken Minato was exalted. Jiraiya, whom he had been talking to when the message came, was left with a dust cloud when the Jōnin rushed towards the hospital. Shaking his head the Sannin followed his pupil at a more sedated pace.

Minato paused in front of the boy's door, hesitating and then knocking before walking inside. At the bed, still pale and with bandages, Naruto lay. Thankfully the small read head was finally conscious and his eyes followed Minato's progress in the room. After a moment that Minato had taken to reassure the boy he was safe the head of T&I as well as the Hokage stepped in, followed by a slightly bemused Jiraiya.

The Hokage nodded at Minato before the older man turned his attention towards the boy sitting on the bed, surrounded in a seemingly enormous fluffy bolster. For a moment nothing was said as the boy and the newly entered men stared at each other, after a few moments Naruto turned his gaze away, seemingly disappointed for some reason. Then the Hokage spoke.

"Good afternoon, I am Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Hokage of Konoha-gakkure no Sato, may I know your name?" The boy looked at the Kage for a moment before answering.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." The Kage nodded and sat back in his chair.

"I see… Uzumaki-san, I was of the impression that the Uzumaki clan was wiped out during the last war… how can you claim the name?" The man looked on the boy with interest gleaming in his gaze.

"I… my mother was an Uzumaki who had left the village before the war." There was a moment of hesitation and pain flashed in the kids eyes for the briefest of moments. "She passed over the same night I was born." Minato wanted to say something but the boy carried on before he could. "She left instructions on how to train the clan chakra if I showed any affinity for it as she knew she would probably not survive the birth beforehand, however I only use it as a last resort." Something defying had entered the young read head tone and that something was daring the Kage to question the statement. The Sarutobi studied they young boy calmly.

"And your father?" He prompted. The kid looked up, seemingly startled out of thoughts he had apparently gotten lost in during the small silence and then a huge smile lit up the room.

"My father is the best person ever! He's like, like Wooom! And ANY bad guys are like Wack! And then He's like 'don't touch my son' and they're like 'no, no, we'll do whatever you want' and He's like 'hn' and it's sooo cool!" The kid kept gushing over his father and even Inoichi couldn't help but smile at the scene. The Hokage however had a slight crease between his eyes.

"Where is he now child?" At the question Naruto stilled and his arms lowered into his lap once more.

"I don't know." The boy said in a quiet voice. "But He has duties He need to take care of, no one can do it for Him…" there was something soft but heartbreakingly longing in the boy's eyes and Minato felt his heart constrict at the expression. Still the old Hokage pressed on.

"Does he leave you alone for long periods of time?" Naruto looked up at the Sandaime, then shrugged and looked away again.

"Sometimes, but He's always there when I need Him." 'The child sounded so sure,' Minato thought 'but still…'

"But he wasn't there was he? Not when my ANBU captured you, not when you fled with Minato." Sarutobi said and suddenly there was anger in the boy's eyes and the killing intent in the room made all of them flinch. 'Which' Minato supposed 'was rather impressive considering that there was only high-ranking Shinobi in the room and one of them a Kage.'

"HE KNOWS I CAN PROTTECT MYSELF! HE KNOWS WHENEVER I NEED HIM! HE KNEW HIS PRECENCE WOULD ONLY MAKE IT WORSE AND HE PROBABLY KNEW THE ANBU WERE FROM KONOHA!" Naruto took a deep breath before he continued, but the fire in his eyes hadn't yet been doused.

"Don't you dare insult Him, He knows exactly what He's doing and He would never let me die a meaningless death." The room was still for a moment as the grownups regarded the child and reassessed their assessments about the boy. The boy seemed for a moment rather instable and much stronger than they had first thought. The Hokage shared a look with Inoichi and the man shock his head which made the Kage let out a wary breath before nodding.

"Very well Naruto-san, I apologize for my words; but I had to ask. Now I will leave you to your rest. I have some pressing matters that are in need of attention." the man offered a small, kind smile. "I hope you can forgive an old man for his concern." Naruto nodded slowly, seemingly mollified at the Kage's apologize. "Well then," Sarutobi turned to Minato "I hope you will stay with our young guest for a while to make sure he settles in well" Minato nodded and the older of the two turned back to Naruto. "I'll try to come by tomorrow when you have rested a bit more." With that and another small smile the Sandaime rose and calling Inoichi with him left the room.

Minato looked down at Naruto as the boy brushed back some of the crimson locks from his eyes, thinking over the Kage's words. 'So, he wants me to gain information from an ill boy who I owe perhaps only a favor and perhaps my life; lovely.' Internally he made a grimace at the order, but outwardly Minato's features drew into a small smile. 'Damn it.'

Kushina was walking down the busy streets of Konoha, anyone who saw her would take note the scowl on the Kunoichi known as the Bloody Habanero's face and steer clear out of her path. In fact some of the Chunins who had worked with the woman turned and walked in the opposite direction already planning escape routes and contingency plans. 'Damn it!' Uzumaki Kushina thought. 'Why can't I decide?! I had shrimp ramen yesterday and beef ramen the day before that. Kuzo! I had the special last week and they only serve that once a month.'

"Uzumaki Kushina, your presence is in demand at the Hokage tower."

"Woah!" Looking up Kushina came face to face with an ANBU in a rat mask, barley an inch of distance between the two. "Now?" The Kunoichi figured that if she sounded a little exasperated she was excused; she didn't want a mission now damn in! She just got back a day ago from the last mission and by norm she would have at least two days more to rest, nodding the woman's hair swung slightly behind her. "Fine." She grumbled then a hand had grabbed her and with a "Puff" of smoke they were gone from the street.

Once Kushina had regained her balance from the unexpected Shunshin she spun on her feet to give the ANBU member a piece of her mind, however the agent was nowhere to find which gave the woman pause. A discreet cough had her turning again and coloring slightly at the amused face of the Hokage. The Kage turned serious in only moments after asking how she was and general pleasantries as he got to what he wanted to speak to her about.

"Kushina, I know it will be hard for you, yet there is no one else I can ask to carry out this mission." The Kage regarded her as she assured him she could take whatever mission he was about to throw at her. "Good, good, the mission is very sensitive Kushina and will probably need every skill you have. There is a boy in our hospital, what I need you to do is to verify that he is what he claims." The redhead looked confused.

"Shouldn't someone from T&I do that Hokage-sama?" The Kage regarded her before sighing.

"Probably, but the situation is as mentioned very sensitive." The woman nodded less sure than before but still readily. "The boy claims to be an Uzumaki." And the woman turned pale.

An: Sorry for the wait. There has been a lot going on lately and I haven't felt the urge to write more on the story. Hopefully I'll get somewhere now that I've begun writing again. So there are cliffies all over my stories and no, I won't stop as it is how I prefer to write.

So see you next time, reviews make me write faster and questions make me happy!

Bye! ^.^

DominaNocte

18-04-2014


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